WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has fallen more than one US cent after the Federal Reserve issued a more upbeat assessment of the American employment market.
The currency dropped to an overnight low of 87.80 US cents, from 88.90 cents just before the Fed statement was released.
At 0630 AEDT on Thursday, the local unit was trading at 87.92 US cents, down from 88.64 cents on Wednesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open flat following falls on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve confirmed it would end its asset-buying program.
At 0645 AEST on Thursday, the December share price index futures contract was up two points at 5,431.
ELSEWHERE:
WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve has decided to end its quantitative easing stimulus program, after six years of pumping money into the economy via asset purchases to shore up growth.
BEIJING - An economic growth target of about seven per cent, down from 7.5 per cent this year, would be appropriate for China in 2015, the World Bank says.
LONDON - Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, has been placed under criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office following its discovery of a STG263 million ($A480 million) hole in profit expectations.
JERUSALEM - Israeli drinks firm SodaStream, hit by international boycott calls, says it is shutting a controversial factory in a West Bank settlement as it announced a nine per cent fall in sales.
MOSCOW - Russian energy giant Rosneft has announced that its third-quarter profits crashed as it operated under Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and the rouble plunged.
AKRON, Ohio - Goodyear Tyre's third-quarter net income fell three per cent as tyre sales fell around the world, but its adjusted earnings easily beat Wall Street expectations.
MILAN - Fiat Chrysler is unleashing Ferrari, its sports and racing car business, with a stock market spin-off that has given a big boost to the parent group's share price.
PARIS - A delayed watershed scheme to allow cross-trading between Hong Kong and Shanghai's stock markets will go ahead, the president of the Hong Kong bourse says.
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